OFFICIAL OBITUARY REFERENCE
PREAMBLE
Former Republican Senator Richard Lugar of the United States Congress, who has been ailing for a long time, passed away on the 28th of April in 2019 at the Inova Heart and Vascular Institute in the state of Virginia. He was 87 years old. The sad news of his death came after he succumbed to complications resulting from a neurological disorder which affected his brain. Senator Richard Lugar was born on the 4th of April in 1932 in Indianapolis city of Indiana State, the son of Bertha, his mother, and Marvin Lugar, his father. Lugar attended Indianapolis Public Schools and in 1950 graduated from the Shortridge High School. He went on to attend Denison University from which he graduated in 1954. He further attended Oxford University in England from which he earned a master’s degree in 1956. From 1956 to 1960 he served in the United States Navy. He was the 44th Mayor of the City of Indianapolis and served two terms on it from 1968 to 1976. The late Senator Richard Lugar represented his state of Indiana in the US Senate for six terms from 1977 to 2013. From 1985 to 1987 and again from 2003 to 2007, Lugar was the Chair of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. He also served on the Board of Directors of the National Endowment for Democracy from 1992 to 2001. He was the Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry from 1995 to 2001. In 1996, Lugar ran for the Republican Party nomination for President. The late Senator Richard Lugar became the fifth most senior Senator in the United States Congress and also the longest serving Senator from the governing Republican Party. Senator Lugar had many outstanding accomplishments during his illustrious career in public service and has won a number of awards. Some examples may be cited here. In 2001 he won the Democracy Service Medal of the National Endowment for Democracy. In 2005, Lugar was presented the Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy Award by the American Foreign Service Association. Besides, on the 8th of August in 2013, President Barack Obama named Lugar as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The late Senator Richard Lugar has authored a number of books. Among them the two most internationally acclaimed and reputed are Letter to the Next President and The Next American Century.
The late Senator Richard Lugar was an unequivocal supporter of Tibet and the Tibetan people for a long period of time. In particular, he enjoyed a close acquaintanceship with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He was among the United Sates lawmakers who criticized China for its ongoing policy of repression in Tibet. He was also among those who lauded His Holiness the Dalai Lama for his admirable efforts directed at bringing peace and promoting human ethical values in this world.
Overall, the late Senator Richard Lugar had extended support for a number of resolutions for Tibet in the United States Congress. In particular, he extended strong support in 2002 for the Tibetan Policy Act which became a law that year. He was also among those who gave strong support for the conferment of the United States Congressional Gold Medal to His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2007. The late Senator and Senate leader was thus not only a great American leader but also an unequivocal supporter when it came to the issue of Tibet.
To sum up, during his more than 30 years of membership of the United States Congress, the late Senator Richard Lugar was an eminent public figure with great concern for the greater good of the general society as well as an important figure in the general picture of the Tibetan struggle, a personage who had a single-minded devotion and respect for His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the basis of their shared rapport and mutual understanding.
RESOLUTION
The Tibetan Parliament in Exile greatly respects and admires the late Senator Richard Lugar for his outstanding accomplishments while offering its exaltations to him. His passing away has been a great loss to the Tibetan struggle too. On behalf of all the Tibetan people in Tibet and in exile, the Tibetan Parliament in Exile hereby offers its heartfelt condolences to his surviving family members and others who were close to hm. The Tibetan Parliament in Exile ardently prays that his visionary noble wishes may all be seen fulfilled, that whatever he had done that amounted to accumulation of sins may all be cleansed so that he stands purified and may ascend through stages of blissfulness after blissfulness. The Tibetan Parliament in Exile hereby adopts this resolution with unanimous approval on this the 20th day of September in 2019.
The above resolution was adopted with unanimous approval at the 8th session of the 16th Tibetan Parliament in Exile on this the 20th day of September in 2019.
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* In case of any discrepancy between this English translation and its Tibetan original, the latter should be considered authoritative and final for all purposes.
